Blood red love by Dripping Creativity
Chapter 41

Blood red love

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Charlie had been staying at Vidar’s place all week. On Tuesday, they had gone by her apartment to feed the fishes and check on things. It was also the day Charlie had forced Vidar

to go back to work from his office and not from home. He was worried she would feel lonely all alone in his apartment. Charlie had to threaten to go to her own place to get him to agree. Vidar had made sure she got her own key to his place, and even though it seemed like an empty gesture, she had given him a key to hers. When Charlie had gone to work on Monday, she discovered her schedule had been rearranged. She didn’t work any shifts with Mia. If it was something Vidar had arranged or something Jenni had found prudent, Charlie didn’t

know, and she didn’t ask. She was happy to not have to deal with Mia and James. Her other

coworkers were curious about Vidar as well, but not on a level that made Charlie

uncomfortable. The rearranging of the schedule had left Charlie with Thursday off. When she got home, she told Vidar, and he smiled.

“You will no longer work on Thursdays. You are no longer our waitress,” he told her.

“Oh,” was all she could think of to say. She found she would miss the Thursday club. She had spent so much time avoiding it, and now she was sorry not to go.

“You’ll be getting your own seat at the table,” Vidar continued.

“What?”

“Of course. You are our maiden, and you are my partner. You have every right to a seat at the table as our equal. Did you think you wouldn’t be going?” he asked, looking as surprised as

she felt.

“Yes,” she confessed.

“Charlie, it wouldn’t feel right not to have you there,” he said and kissed her.

“Wait. Does that mean none of the other has a partner? You were all single?” she asked. She

had a hard time believing it.

“Not exactly. But most of us, yes. For most vampires, what happened to you and I won’t

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happen,” he said. Charlie nodded as she remembered him telling her not all imprinting was instant. “Most vampires replace someone they like and they live with them until they can determine if the imprinting will start or not. Some stay together even if the imprinting will never happen. Others split up if they feel like the chance is low and try their luck with

someone else.”

“How long does it take?” Charlie asked.

“It varies from couple to couple, but if it hasn’t started after ten years or so, then it’s unlikely to happen,” Vidar said.

“Ten years?! They have to wait ten years to replace out?” she asked, feeling upset for some reason. Vidar chuckled.

“You are looking at it from a human perspective. If you have eighty years to live and you spend twenty of them growing up and thirty of them being too old to reproduce, it only gives you thirty years or so to replace a good partner. Then ten years is a long time. For a Vampire, that has thousand and thousands of years to spend, ten is like a drop in the ocean. Especially when talking about replaceing the one that completes you,” he said, pulling her into his lap and running his lips over her neck. Charlie put her arms around him and relaxed.

“That makes sense,” she agreed. “So, if any one of you at the Thursday club has a partner, they will automatically get a seat?” she then asked.

“Yes and no,” he said, and Charlie rolled her eyes. “Sorry, we tend to make things. complicated,” Vidar told her. “A serious partner will get a seat as long as they are on good. terms,” he explained.

“Vampires split up?” she asked. The thought made fear spread through her. She had thought imprinting was like a relationship guarantee and it had made Charlie feel safe. The idea she had been wrong sent panic through her. Vidar pulled her closer and rubbed her back.

“It’s not common, not among imprinted couples. But it happens they choose to go separate ways. Often only for a decade or two, maybe a century, to let time cool upset feelings,” he said. “Jun and his wife have been on different continents for forty years. I won’t go into details. They are his to share. But it is tragic, and the community will always try to help,” Vidar said.

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“Is there something we can do?” Charlie asked. Vidar smiled at her and gave her a soft kiss.

“With those two, only time can help. I would say things are turning around, but it’s hard to tell with Jun. He isn’t the sharing type,” he told her. Charlie nodded. It still made her feel deeply sad for Jun. He may not have been the most outspoken of the members in the club, but he had always treated her with respect. “Don’t think too hard on it, lilla lo. I hate to see you sad.”

“I’m okay,” she said, but snuggled in a little closer.

On Thursday evening Charli got ready. She felt a little awkward going to “The red lady‘ outside of work. Vidar had reassured her it would be fine, and she repeated it to herself as she put on her shoes.

“You look amazing,” Vidar told her, and kissed her. “I love when you wear skirts or dresses,” he said as he let his eyes rake over her body. Charlie blushed and smiled. The grey pleated skirt that stopped just under her knees was comfortable and she had matched it with a short- sleeved teal coloured cashmere sweater and a leather jacket.

“You just like the easy access,” she teased him and took his hand as they walked out of the

apartment.

“It’s part of the charm,” he admitted, making both of them laugh.

They met Millard as they were walking into the bar.

“Good evening,” Vidar said.

“Vidar, Charlie,” Millard greeted.

“Charlie offered. The three of them walked to the back room and saw Adisa and Nasir already seated.

“Why is there a seventh chair?” Millard asked, looking at Vidar.

“I asked to put it in place for Charlie, which you would have known if you would read your emails,” Vidar calmly said. Charlie felt uncomfortable. She didn’t want this to be an issue. She

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could wait to get an official chair. Vidar placed an arm around her waist and pulled her closer. Millard’s gaze zoomed in on it, like James‘ had days before. Nasir had walked over to them.

“You are moving too fast,” Millard accused Vidar.

“Get a grip, Millard. Even if Vidar hadn’t asked for a chair to be placed at the table, she would have earned it as our maiden,” Nasir said, standing on Charlie’s other side.

“The issue isn’t the fucking chair. It’s that he is pushing her into things,” Millard objected. Charlie’s uneasiness turned to anger. Millard made it sound like Vidar was making her do at thing she didn’t want to. If anyone had been pushy, it had been her.

“Hey, you have no idea what you are talking about. You may be a vampire and you may be older than me, but about this, you are clueless. Vidar has never pushed or persuaded me to do anything. And if you keep accusing him of doing so, you will see just how fucking scary a human woman can be,” Charlie told him, poking the vampire in the chest while she told him. off. The room fell silent, then Nasir and Adisa started laughing and Vidar soon followed.

“Thank you, my fearless lynx,” he told her and kissed her. He bent down to whisper to her. “It’s very sexy when you go into full warrior mode.”

“He was accusing you unfairly,” she huffed. Vidar started laughing again and walked with her towards the table. Jun and Henry walked in and stopped.

“Why is Millard in a foul mood and the rest of you laughing?” Henry asked.

“You just missed the most amazing thing,” Adisa said and told them what had happened. The two of them joined in the laughter and Vidar sat down at the table and pulled Charlie into his lap.

“You are right, Millard. We won’t need the extra chair. I’ll make sure to keep her in my lap so I can hold her back from hurting you,” Vidar said. Charlie just shook her head.

“Don’t provoke him,” she said. Vidar chuckled and kissed her neck.

“But it’s so much fun,” he told her.

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“Be nice. You are supposed to act like his big brother,” she reminded him.

“Fine. But just so you know, he has been out to claim you since the first day,” he told her.

‘Sometimes I think all these rivals are in your mind. But I will believe you. It doesn’t change anything. I’m still yours,” she told him.

“Fucking right you are,” he said, kissing her again. Everyone settled down and the cards were dealt.

“Will you teach me how to play?” Charlie whispered to Vidar. He smiled and nodded.

“It’s called Karnöffel, it’s an old game,” he told her and then started to teach her the comple rules of the game.